River
by Sezu
Summary: To hear her he would just have to cross the river.


_Little note: _I'd say this takes place after Alabasta arc and before Water Seven but it could take place even later, I guess.

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, it belongs to Eiichiro Oda.

* * *

He wasn't quite sure how he had ended up in here. He had been walking in a quiet forest when he had stumbled across the river. The weird thing was, he had never heard it and he was certain rivers flowing as strongly as the one right in front of him usually did make noise. This one was strongly heading ahead, but never did it make a sound.

By the shore there were flowers, a whole lot of them, and there seemed to be even more on the other side. He couldn't recognize most of them; he had never really had any interest on learning all the names of the flora, he hadn't had any need for that. And if he could affect it then that thing would never change. He had other things to learn, more important things.

He decided to walk closer to the water just to check it really was as quiet as it seemed to be. It was somewhat disturbing to see it but not hear it. The sky above was blue with only a couple of clouds slowly drifting where the wind blew them. The grass beneath his bare feet was green and soft. He'd like to take a nap here some time. Maybe even now since he was in no rush.

…Bare feet, he then realized. Just where were his shoes? He looked around almost expecting to see them somewhere nearby, waiting for him to pick them up and put them back on. No such luck. He had to admit this was odd, at least. But not the 'something bad is bound to happen'-odd, just… well, odd, nothing worrying. He shrugged and thought he would find them soon. And so his shoes left his mind just as fast as they had come.

The wind was quietly rustling the leaves in trees behind him. There was a good five meters between the forest and the river and he had walked more than half of that. First it had been because of the shoes that he had stopped and now, when he was about to walk a couple more steps, because he saw someone on the opposite shore. It normally wouldn't have affected him in any way since it was rather normal to see other people pretty much anywhere. This place, however, had been silent, no other human beings in sight. But now there was someone standing there, and not just anyone.

It took a while from Zoro to actually comprehend that the girl on the other side was Kuina.

The dark haired girl seemed to notice him as well, and something on her face changed. She seemed a little worried and a little afraid, but most of all surprised, like if she had not expected to see her childhood friend here of all places. She tried to say something but no words carried across the silent river. It was like if the water swallowed them.

Zoro furrowed his eyebrows and stepped closer, believing he then might hear her words. Nothing. Kuina seemed more panicked as the green headed male walked closer and seemingly spoke louder, even leaned forward. But there was still just the sound of the wind rustling the leaves.

Wanting to hear what the girl had to say Zoro believed he would probably have to get across to the other side. Deciding on this he went even closer and was already setting one foot in water. The sensation he got as his toes touched the surface was strong and comforting. It was like a promise of never having to worry again, never having to feel pain in his body. It was a promise of never ending peace.

Confused, Zoro pulled his toes from the water. He looked at Kuina who seemed even more panicked now, but also relieved. She no longer tried to speak; she was just looking straight at the swordsman on the opposite side. The she shook her head, which in turn made Zoro furrow his eyebrows once again. "What?" he asked. Right after the word leaved his mouth he thought Kuina probably couldn't hear him.

One more time Kuina tried to say something and one more time Zoro felt he should cross the river. He halted as he heard voices. He pricked up his ears to hear better. The voices were so far away and he first thought he had just imagined it. But then he heard it again and he was certain it wasn't his mind making things up. He could also recognize the voices after a while. He felt like he hadn't heard them in a long time, like he had forgotten their existence.

They were the voices of his nakama.

They were mostly calling his name, but there were some other words and sentences as well. Someone, most likely their captain, promised he would get sake if he came back. And he knew for sure it was their navigator saying that he _still_ had debt to pay and so he'd better return. There was even more but the words mixed to one another and were hard to understand. And this place was muffling them, trying its best to entirely silence them.

Zoro's eyes returned to Kuina who was still as young as the last time he had seen her. She smiled and nodded, and for once Zoro didn't need words to understand what she wanted to say: Go ahead.

Though he would've liked to stay and talk with his friend he knew that would have to wait. "I promise I'll be back." One more promise he had made for her but he knew he would be able to keep them both. Zoro turned around and left the river and the flowers and his childhood friend behind.

* * *

Zoro opened his eyes though he never remembered even closing them. The scenery was no longer green but that of the infirmary of their ship. _'…The hell?'_ He was just about to sit up when something very fluffy jumped to his sight. Chopper, he knew. And very relieved Chopper at that, too.

"I'm so glad you're awake!" he said happily. "We were really afraid for you just now."

Zoro didn't say a word for a moment. He still didn't know what had happened. And… "Where did the river go?" he muttered but not quietly enough for the doctor not to hear it.

"River? Oh no! It means you almost…!" The reindeer was obviously in panic.

"Hn, almost what?"

But Chopper was too busy rushing around the room for whatever reason.

"I bet you were just about to cross it too, marimo." Well, that voice Zoro could recognize. He sat up –which turned out to be quite a painful action- and saw the love-cook standing next to door.

"Shut up", was Zoro's short reply.

The blond and the reindeer weren't the only ones in the room. Nami was there looking relieved and ready to punch him at the same time. Luffy was dancing around with Usopp –if you wanted to call that jumping dancing. Robin was sitting calmly on a chair close to the bed Zoro was sitting on. She had a light smile on her face. "You gave us all quite a scare there, Swordsman-san", she said.

Zoro, who still couldn't tell what exactly had happened, thought for a while. He could feel pain, which meant two things: he had been in a fight and he had lived to see another day. As he was slowly starting to remember things –memories included some of the crewmembers getting into trouble and him saving their lives, once again- Luffy practically shouted: "Sanji, make food! We have to celebrate our victory!"

"Yes, captain", came the answer and the cook left for the galley.

Chopper had calmed enough to remind Zoro to not to do anything that could open his wounds.

"Yeah, yeah", Zoro said. He thought back on the river and the promise he had made there.

Maybe he wouldn't hurry in fulfilling that. The other promise was more important. Until then, he knew Kuina could wait.

* * *

Japanese believe they have to cross a river after death to get to the other side, in case you didn't know and wondered. 8)

And since I'm not native english speaker I'd be thankful if you told if you found any grammatic mistakes. I can also take constructive criticism so don't be afraid to tell what you thought of this. :)


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